A re-elected Saskatchewan Party government says it would increase the Saskatchewan Advantage Scholarship by 50 per cent from $500 to $750 per year. Leader Scott Moe says, “The Saskatchewan Advantage Scholarship is there to ensure students from low to moderate income families can afford to continue their education after high school.”

The provincial government currently provides about $90 million a year to 19,000 students through repayable loans and non-repayable grants. The party says an increase to the Scholarship will benefit an estimated 8,000 students per year. It would be introduced in next year’s budget and would cost $2 million per year.

Meanwhile, NDP leader Ryan Meili says if his party is elected they will commit $3 million dollars to a rural education strategy. He says that is in addition to the $125 million he pledged yesterday to increase staffing at schools across the province. Meili says a Rural Education Task Force would develop a strategy to meet the needs of rural students.

He says an NDP government would also undertake a feasibility study to examine the need for a new high school in White City. The NDP suggests it would help manage growth in communities on the east side of Regina and address capacity pressures at the high school in Balgonie.